Keep in mind that sunlight and white light contain a mixture of various wavelengths, each of which has a significant amount of blue light (10).

Getting blue light, especially from the sun, in the daytime helps you stay alert while improving performance and mood (11).

Blue light therapy devices may help treat depression, and blue light bulbs have been shown to reduce fatigue and improve the mood, performance, and sleep of office workers (12, 13, 14).

Yet, modern light bulbs and electronic devices, especially computer monitors, likewise produce large amounts of blue light and may disrupt your internal clock if you’re exposed to them during the evening.

When it gets dark, your pineal gland secretes the hormone melatonin, which tells your body to get tired and go to sleep.

Blue light, whether from the sun or a laptop, is very effective at inhibiting melatonin production — thus reducing both the quantity and quality of your sleep (15, 16).

Amber-tinted glasses offer the easiest and most effective way to avoid blue light exposure at night.

These glasses effectively block all blue light. Thus, your brain doesn’t get the signal that it’s supposed to stay awake.

Studies show that when people use blue-light-blocking glasses, even in a lit room or while using an electronic device, they produce just as much melatonin as if it were dark (21, 22).

In one study, people’s melatonin levels in the evening were compared across dim light, bright light, and bright light with tinted glasses (23).

The bright light almost completely suppressed melatonin production, while the dim light did not.

Notably, those wearing the glasses produced the same amount of melatonin as those exposed to dim light. The glasses largely canceled out the melatonin-suppressing effect of the bright light.

Likewise, blue-light-blocking glasses have been shown to spur major improvements in sleep and mental performance.

In one 2-week study, 20 individuals used either blue-light-blocking glasses or glasses that didn’t block blue light for 3 hours before bedtime. The former group experienced major improvements in both sleep quality and mood (24).

These glasses have also been found to greatly improve sleep in shift workers when worn before bedtime (25).

If you don’t want to use glasses every night, there are a few other ways to reduce blue light exposure.

One popular way is to install a program called f.lux on your computer.

This program automatically adjusts the color and brightness of your screen based on your timezone. When it’s dark outside, it effectively blocks all blue light and gives your monitor a faint orange hue.